Thursday, December 19, 2024 |
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I went to the Tony Blair institute Christmas reception last night. The guest of honour was Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, who was interviewed on stage by Blair.
She said the reason she wanted to be there was to "say thank you to you and your government for making it possible" for someone like her to succeed.
She presented herself as an instinctive Blairite. When she was asked how Labour could defend itself against populism, she said: "Delivery. Pragmatism and delivery." She boasted that she was responsible for more than half the bills currently going through parliament. And she said that Labour had to engage with people on their own terms: Brexit was the classic example of when politicians got the tone wrong, she said: they told people, "Oh no, you don't want that." Similarly, there was a tendency to say, "You're poor, we're going to help you." That wasn't what New Labour did for her, she said; through programmes such as Sure Start it empowered her to help herself.
Blair asked how she relaxed: "I listen to serial killer podcasts. Don't judge me; it doesn't mean that I'm a serial killer. I bet about half the people in this room listen to serial killer podcasts, but they don't admit it." She came across well, as an effective communicator with a sharp political sense – but one of her bills, on employment rights, is notably un-Blairite, and it will be interesting to watch that contradiction resolve itself.
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Is a Jaffa cake a cake or a biscuit for tax purposes? |
Answer at the bottom of today's email |
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| | The PM said the change was about raising revenue, rather than simply ending tax avoidance |
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| Nobel peace prize winner turned global pariah was toppled by the military in Myanmar three years ago |
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| She has been accused of helping her aunt Sheikh Hasina, recently ousted as PM of Bangladesh, to siphon off £5.2bn |
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What else you need to know today |
- Keir Starmer endured an hour-an-a-half grilling by select committee chairs without ever leaving his comfort zone: it was all about refusing to choose (between the US and EU; temporary accommodation and permanent homes; farmers and tax revenue) and getting the balance right
- The final question, from Meg Hillier, Labour chair of the Liaison Committee, was whether he would have done anything differently in his first five months as prime minister: "No"
- Andrew Grice is very good on the complexities of Elon Musk potentially donating money to Reform – the government is said to be looking at ways of blocking donations from UK-registered companies from profits made outside the UK
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Is it even legal for Elon Musk to give Nigel Farage $100m? |
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It could be, if it came as a donation from a UK-based company, as Sean O'Grady explains... Read more |
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A look back at a year in Westminster |
Six winners and losers in the year in politics |
Over the Christmas period look out for my article on the dozen winners and losers of 2024. As a taster, I can reveal that the six winners are (pause for audience suspense): Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer, Terry Jermy, Dave McCobb, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch.
And the losers: Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Sue Gray, John McDonnell, James Cleverly and Louise Haigh. It feels as if it has been a momentous year. If you missed last weekend's "dim sum" predictions for the years ahead, they are here. The House of Commons goes into Christmas recess today, as does this newsletter. Both will return on Monday 6 January. Happy Christmas! |
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"Prime minister, thank you very much for your dedication to duty and your service to our nation" Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Labour chair of the Defence Committee, prefacing his first question to Keir Starmer at the Liaison Committee |
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Quiz answer: It is a cake, and therefore food, not subject to VAT, according to a VAT tribunal in 1991 |
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